The world's population has already exceeded seven billion people and it continues to grow exponentially higher. By the year 2050 we may reach 9.5 billion people. The needs for drinking water, nutritious food, and clean energy are more urgent than ever before. While the planet's population is increasing, we also continue the pollution of lands, rivers, and oceans through toxic emissions, mainly by burning fossil fuels to power heavy industry and vehicles. Chemicals are discarded into rivers and oceans from industry and agricultural fertilizers. These are the facts of our daily news and contribute to global warming and climate change.
One problem with current centralized power production facilities is the loss of efficiency and therefore additional resources required to send electricity from the power plant to each of the consuming locations, for example a multitude of households. A similar problem is faced by water utilities; fresh water must be located, treated in a central location, and then pumped to the many locations in which it is to be used.
A solution is needed which can increase self-sufficiency. In particular, the costs of producing energy and clean water heavily tax the environment; there is a need for a low-cost method for meeting those needs on a mass scale.